Janett Avalos / Houston Public Media
A CenterPoint Energy crew works on a transmission tower in Cypress, Texas, on Saturday, May 18, 2024.
Another cold front is moving into Houston this weekend, but the area’s utility infrastructure operator said it doesn’t expect any major outages.
CenterPoint’s vice president of resilience and capital delivery, Nathan Brownell, said high winds and icy precipitation tend to damage power lines and poles, rather than extreme temperatures.
While lows could hit the 20s this weekend, Houston is not expected to see freezing precipitation.
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“Regardless, we’re going to be focused on our customers,” Brownell said. “So if customers do have an outage over the weekend, we’re going to be quickly and safely making sure that we get those outages back on.”
The company faced backlash after Hurricane Beryl brought widespread outages to the Houston area. CenterPoint has put renewed focus on weatherizing its power lines and other infrastructure, along with increasing communications to the public, following increased government oversight and public pressure. The company also reached a $3.2 billion resiliency plan settlement with several Houston-area cities following Hurricane Beryl
“We did a lot of listening to our customers, to our elected officials, to our regulators and we took a lot of that feedback to heart,” Brownell said.
Rice University Professor Mark Jones helped conduct a survey through the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs last year, looking at Harris County voters’ perceptions of CenterPoint. The survey found an overwhelmingly negative view of the company at the time, as the hurricane remained a fresh memory in many residents’ minds.
Jones said the winter storm on Sunday and Monday posed a test for the company’s infrastructure and communications, though it was a milder storm than initially forecast. He said CenterPoint has taken steps to strengthen its infrastructure and communicate with the public during extreme weather, after Hurricane Beryl.
“The more we have these tests – whether it’s a winter storm or a summer hurricane – and the lights stay on, the higher CenterPoint’s favorability ratings are going to go,” he said.